Funes the Memorious
Encyclopedia
"Funes the Memorious" is a fantasy
short story
by Argentine
writer Jorge Luis Borges
. First published in La Nación
in June 1942, it appeared in the 1944 anthology Ficciones
, part two (Artifices). The first English translation appeared in 1954 in Avon Modern Writing No. 2. The title has also been translated as "Funes, His Memory." (The Spanish "memorioso" means "having a vast memory," and is a fairly common word in both Spanish and Portuguese languages. Because "memorious" is a rare word in modern English, some translators opt for this alternate translation.)
, Uruguay
, in 1884. Borges's cousin asks the boy for the time, and Funes replies instantly, without the aid of a watch and accurate to the minute.
Borges returns to Buenos Aires
, then in 1887 comes back to Fray Bentos, intending to relax and study some Latin. He learns that Ireneo Funes has meanwhile suffered a horseback riding accident and is now hopelessly crippled. Soon enough, Borges receives a note from Funes, requesting that the visitor lend him some of his Latin books and a dictionary. Borges, disconcerted, sends Funes what he deems the most difficult works "in order fully to undeceive him".
Days later, Borges receives a telegram from Buenos Aires calling for his return due to his father's ill health. As he packs, he remembers the books and goes to Funes's house. Funes's mother escorts him to a patio where the youth usually spends his dark hours. As he enters, Borges is greeted by Funes's voice speaking perfect Latin, reciting "the first paragraph of the twenty-fourth chapter of the seventh book of the Historia Naturalis" (by Pliny the Elder
).
Funes enumerates to Borges the cases of prodigious memory cited in the Historia Naturalis, and adds that he marvels that those are considered marvellous. He reveals that, since his fall from the horse, he perceives everything in full detail and remembers it all. He remembers, for example, the shape of clouds at all given moments, as well as the associated perceptions (muscular, thermal, etc.) of each moment. Funes has an immediate intuition of the mane of a horse or the form of a constantly changing flame that is comparable to our (normal people's) intuition of a simple geometric shape such as a triangle or square.
In order to pass the time, Funes has engaged in projects such as reconstructing a full day's worth of past memories (an effort which, he finds, takes him another full day), and constructing a "system of enumeration" that gives each number a different, arbitrary name. Borges correctly points out to him that this is precisely the opposite of a system of enumeration, but Funes is incapable of such understanding. A poor, ignorant young boy in the outskirts of a small town, he is hopelessly limited in his possibilities, but (says Borges) his absurd projects reveal "a certain stammering greatness". Funes, we are told, is incapable of Platonic ideas, of generalities, of abstraction; his world is one of intolerably uncountable details. He finds it very difficult to sleep, since he recalls "every crevice and every moulding of the various houses which [surround] him".
Borges spends the whole night talking to Funes in the dark. When dawn reveals Funes's face, only 19 years old, Borges sees him "as monumental as bronze, more ancient than Egypt, anterior to the prophecies and the pyramids".
Borges later finds out that Funes died from "congestion of the lungs."
, without the obvious need for study or practice. The story raises the unresolved question of how much unfulfilled potential the human brain
truly contains.
The very existence of eidetic memory
is controversial, although hyperthymesia
, now known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), the ability to recall one's past day-by-day, has been confirmed to exist by some neurologists (Parker et al. 2006).
of a plainsman with phenomenal abilities who lives and dies in obscurity. The unheeded marvel is a common theme in Borges's writing.
which gives every numeral (up to at least 24,000) its own arbitrary name. The narrator argues that a positional number system is a better tool for abstraction.
postulated then rejected an impossible idiom "in which each individual thing, each stone, each bird and each branch would have its own name; Funes once projected an analogous language, but discarded it because it seemed too general to him, too ambiguous" since it did not take time into account : given that physical objects are constantly changing in subtle ways, Funes insisted that in order to refer to an object unambiguously one must specify a time.
(or detail-suppression) for the management of sense impressions. The narrator claims that this prevents abstract thought, given that induction
and deduction
rely on this ability.
bears a certain similitude to fictional Ireneo Funes: he had epileptic
seizures that may have a part in his unusual talents; his memory for numbers is prodigious (he can recite the number pi
correctly to its 22514th digit), and finally, he has explained that he "sees" numbers as shapes, some of them more pleasant than others.
Solomon Shereshevskii
, a stage memory-artist (mnemonist
) with a condition known as "hypermnesia", is described by the Russian neuropsychologist Alexander Luria
in his book, The Mind of a Mnemonist, which some speculate was the inspiration for Borges's story. Luria discusses explicitly some of the trade-offs — hinted at by Borges — that come with supernormal memory power. (Further Skywriting on this topic.) American neuropsychologist Oliver Sacks
cites Luria's book as the inspiration for his own book, Awakenings
, which is dedicated to Luria.
Jill Price
, along with 10 others, can remember with great accuracy most days of their lives starting from the average age of 11. The scientific term for their unique condition is "hyperthymestic syndrome" now more recently known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). Price has stated that she, like Funes, views her memory as a curse.
's film Away with words
is largely inspired by the story of Funes (as well as Luria
's account of Shereshevskii
's life and psychology).
David Mitchell
's novel Cloud Atlas alludes to this story; the character Sonmi-451 is said, as part of her intellectual development, to have read "Ireneo Funes's Remembrances".
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
writer Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
. First published in La Nación
La Nación
La Nación is an Argentine daily newspaper. The country's leading conservative paper, the centrist Clarín is its main competitor. It is the only newspaper in Argentina still published in broadsheet format.-Overview:...
in June 1942, it appeared in the 1944 anthology Ficciones
Ficciones
Ficciones is the most popular anthology of short stories by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, often considered the best introduction to his work. Ficciones should not be confused with Labyrinths, although they have much in common. Labyrinths is a separate translation of Borges' material,...
, part two (Artifices). The first English translation appeared in 1954 in Avon Modern Writing No. 2. The title has also been translated as "Funes, His Memory." (The Spanish "memorioso" means "having a vast memory," and is a fairly common word in both Spanish and Portuguese languages. Because "memorious" is a rare word in modern English, some translators opt for this alternate translation.)
Plot summary
"Funes the Memorious" tells the story of a fictional version of Borges himself as he meets Ireneo Funes, a teenage boy who lives in Fray BentosFray Bentos
Fray Bentos, the capital of the Río Negro Department of western Uruguay, is a port on the Uruguay River. It is close to the border with Argentina and about due north of Buenos Aires.-History:...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, in 1884. Borges's cousin asks the boy for the time, and Funes replies instantly, without the aid of a watch and accurate to the minute.
Borges returns to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, then in 1887 comes back to Fray Bentos, intending to relax and study some Latin. He learns that Ireneo Funes has meanwhile suffered a horseback riding accident and is now hopelessly crippled. Soon enough, Borges receives a note from Funes, requesting that the visitor lend him some of his Latin books and a dictionary. Borges, disconcerted, sends Funes what he deems the most difficult works "in order fully to undeceive him".
Days later, Borges receives a telegram from Buenos Aires calling for his return due to his father's ill health. As he packs, he remembers the books and goes to Funes's house. Funes's mother escorts him to a patio where the youth usually spends his dark hours. As he enters, Borges is greeted by Funes's voice speaking perfect Latin, reciting "the first paragraph of the twenty-fourth chapter of the seventh book of the Historia Naturalis" (by Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
).
Funes enumerates to Borges the cases of prodigious memory cited in the Historia Naturalis, and adds that he marvels that those are considered marvellous. He reveals that, since his fall from the horse, he perceives everything in full detail and remembers it all. He remembers, for example, the shape of clouds at all given moments, as well as the associated perceptions (muscular, thermal, etc.) of each moment. Funes has an immediate intuition of the mane of a horse or the form of a constantly changing flame that is comparable to our (normal people's) intuition of a simple geometric shape such as a triangle or square.
In order to pass the time, Funes has engaged in projects such as reconstructing a full day's worth of past memories (an effort which, he finds, takes him another full day), and constructing a "system of enumeration" that gives each number a different, arbitrary name. Borges correctly points out to him that this is precisely the opposite of a system of enumeration, but Funes is incapable of such understanding. A poor, ignorant young boy in the outskirts of a small town, he is hopelessly limited in his possibilities, but (says Borges) his absurd projects reveal "a certain stammering greatness". Funes, we are told, is incapable of Platonic ideas, of generalities, of abstraction; his world is one of intolerably uncountable details. He finds it very difficult to sleep, since he recalls "every crevice and every moulding of the various houses which [surround] him".
Borges spends the whole night talking to Funes in the dark. When dawn reveals Funes's face, only 19 years old, Borges sees him "as monumental as bronze, more ancient than Egypt, anterior to the prophecies and the pyramids".
Borges later finds out that Funes died from "congestion of the lungs."
Major themes
Borges explores a variety of topics in the text, such as the need of generalization and abstraction to thought and science.Savants
Funes may be compared to an autistic savant, in that he has acquired an extraordinary ability, memoryEidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
, without the obvious need for study or practice. The story raises the unresolved question of how much unfulfilled potential the human brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
truly contains.
The very existence of eidetic memory
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
is controversial, although hyperthymesia
Hyperthymesia
Hyperthymesia, also known as piking or hyperthymestic syndrome, is a condition where the affected individual has a superior autobiographical memory. "Thymesia" comes from the Greek word θύμησις thymesis, meaning "memory"...
, now known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), the ability to recall one's past day-by-day, has been confirmed to exist by some neurologists (Parker et al. 2006).
Wasted miracles
The early death of Funes echoes the idea of unfulfilled potential, the wasted miracleMiracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
of a plainsman with phenomenal abilities who lives and dies in obscurity. The unheeded marvel is a common theme in Borges's writing.
Counting systems
Funes claims to have invented a system of enumerationNumeral system
A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
which gives every numeral (up to at least 24,000) its own arbitrary name. The narrator argues that a positional number system is a better tool for abstraction.
Artificial languages
The narrator mentions that LockeJohn Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
postulated then rejected an impossible idiom "in which each individual thing, each stone, each bird and each branch would have its own name; Funes once projected an analogous language, but discarded it because it seemed too general to him, too ambiguous" since it did not take time into account : given that physical objects are constantly changing in subtle ways, Funes insisted that in order to refer to an object unambiguously one must specify a time.
Generalization
Because Funes can distinguish every physical object at every distinct time of viewing, he has no clear need of generalizationGeneralization
A generalization of a concept is an extension of the concept to less-specific criteria. It is a foundational element of logic and human reasoning. Generalizations posit the existence of a domain or set of elements, as well as one or more common characteristics shared by those elements. As such, it...
(or detail-suppression) for the management of sense impressions. The narrator claims that this prevents abstract thought, given that induction
Inductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning, also known as induction or inductive logic, is a kind of reasoning that constructs or evaluates propositions that are abstractions of observations. It is commonly construed as a form of reasoning that makes generalizations based on individual instances...
and deduction
Deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning, also called deductive logic, is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. Deductive arguments are attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises or hypothesis...
rely on this ability.
Actual persons with similar conditions
The real-life case of Daniel TammetDaniel Tammet
Daniel Tammet is a British writer. His best selling 2006 memoir, Born On A Blue Day, about his life with high-functioning autism and savant syndrome, was named a "Best Book for Young Adults" in 2008 by the American Library Association.Tammet's second book, Embracing the Wide Sky, was named one of...
bears a certain similitude to fictional Ireneo Funes: he had epileptic
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
seizures that may have a part in his unusual talents; his memory for numbers is prodigious (he can recite the number pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
correctly to its 22514th digit), and finally, he has explained that he "sees" numbers as shapes, some of them more pleasant than others.
Solomon Shereshevskii
Solomon Shereshevskii
Solomon Veniaminovich Shereshevsky , also known simply as 'Ш' or 'S.', was a Russian journalist and mnemonist active in the 1920s.-Studies:...
, a stage memory-artist (mnemonist
Mnemonist
The title mnemonist refers to an individual with the ability to remember and recall unusually long lists of data, such as unfamiliar names, lists of numbers, entries in books, etc. Such individuals have also been described as possessing an eidetic memory, although whether such abilities are innate...
) with a condition known as "hypermnesia", is described by the Russian neuropsychologist Alexander Luria
Alexander Luria
Alexander Romanovich Luria was a famous Soviet neuropsychologist and developmental psychologist. He was one of the founders of neuropsychology and the jointly led the Vygotsky Circle.- Biography :...
in his book, The Mind of a Mnemonist, which some speculate was the inspiration for Borges's story. Luria discusses explicitly some of the trade-offs — hinted at by Borges — that come with supernormal memory power. (Further Skywriting on this topic.) American neuropsychologist Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
cites Luria's book as the inspiration for his own book, Awakenings
Awakenings
Awakenings is a 1990 American drama film based on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir Awakenings. It tells the true story of British neurologist Oliver Sacks, fictionalized as American Malcolm Sayer and portrayed by Robin Williams who, in 1969, discovers beneficial effects of the then-new drug L-Dopa...
, which is dedicated to Luria.
Jill Price
Jill Price
Jill Price is one of six confirmed subjects determined by scientists to have hyperthymesia and was the person who pioneered such research. She is able to recite details of every day of her life since she was fourteen years old. She can recall various obscure moments of her life in high detail...
, along with 10 others, can remember with great accuracy most days of their lives starting from the average age of 11. The scientific term for their unique condition is "hyperthymestic syndrome" now more recently known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). Price has stated that she, like Funes, views her memory as a curse.
In cinema and literature
Chris DoyleChristopher Doyle
Christopher Doyle is a cinematographer. He has won the AFI Award for cinematography, the Cannes Technical Grand Prize, Golden Osella, the Golden Horse awards , and Hong Kong Film Award . Doyle is an affiliate of the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers.-Biography:Doyle was born in Sydney,...
's film Away with words
Away with words
Away with Words is a 1999 auteur trilingual film by Christopher Doyle co-scripted by Doyle and Tony Rayns and starring Tadanobu Asano and Mavis Xu...
is largely inspired by the story of Funes (as well as Luria
Alexander Luria
Alexander Romanovich Luria was a famous Soviet neuropsychologist and developmental psychologist. He was one of the founders of neuropsychology and the jointly led the Vygotsky Circle.- Biography :...
's account of Shereshevskii
Solomon Shereshevskii
Solomon Veniaminovich Shereshevsky , also known simply as 'Ш' or 'S.', was a Russian journalist and mnemonist active in the 1920s.-Studies:...
's life and psychology).
David Mitchell
David Mitchell (author)
David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist. He has written five novels, two of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize.- Biography :...
's novel Cloud Atlas alludes to this story; the character Sonmi-451 is said, as part of her intellectual development, to have read "Ireneo Funes's Remembrances".